Features

Extends the Scheme language, following the R7RS specification from 2013.
Scheme has many implementations, and is much used in research and teaching.

Programs run fast
- roughly as fast as Java programs,
and much faster than other “scripting languages”.
This is due to a sophisticated compiler,
compile-time transformations, type inference, and optional type declarations.

Full convenient and efficient access to the huge set of Java libraries
means you can access objects, methods, fields, and classes without run-time overhead.

Start-up times are fast. You don’t have to wait for a lot of
initialization. Even if you start with source code, the parser
and compiler are fast.

Scripts are simple Kawa source files
that can run as an application or command. These are simple to write,
start start, and run efficiently, since they’re automatically
compiled before execution.